Portland plans for more public toilets

July 14, 2009

PORTLAND, OR — Following the purchase of the city''s first automatic public toilet and the fanfare it received, Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard is pushing for several more throughout the city, according to The Oregonian.

The Portland public loo idea secured $500,000 in funding, and after the purchase of the first $140,000 toilet, the city has roughly $360,000 left to purchase more models, the story stated.

According to the story, Leonard, who is attempting to secure a patent for the loo, would ultimately like to sell the self-cleaning automatic toilets to other cities.

The city hopes to install at least one, and as many as six toilets downtown and around inner Southeast Portland by the end of the year, the story added.

Genny Nelson, co-founder of the homeless support organization Sisters of the Road, said: "I''ve been working in the neighborhood since 1972, and more public restrooms has been on the agenda of every safety meeting over the decades. And to finally get one, I mean, wow."